June 14, 2021 | 10:11pm | Updated June 14, 2021 | 10:11pm
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Shelby Houlihan crosses the finish line to win the Women’s 3000m during the 2020 Toyota USATF Indoor Championships.
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Hopefully, it was a dang good burrito.
American track and field star Shelby Houlihan received a four-year ban after testing positive for nandrolone, which she blamed on a pork burrito.
According to the 28-year-old, she was notified of the positive results from an out-of-competition urine test given by the World Anti-Doping Agency in December.
Houlihan began searching for the culprit, logging her food from the previous week. She and her team believe the nandrolone detected stemmed from a pork burrito Houlihan bought from a food truck the night before her test.
Nandrogen is an androgen and anabolic steroid that helps humans build muscle. The World Anti-Doping Agency has noted that eating meats like pig offal can cause the presence of the steroid.
Now, just one week before the start of U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials, the American 1500-meter and 5000-mteer record-holder must confront the severity of this ruling, which could keep her out of the 2024 Games in Paris.
“I feel completely devastated, lost, broken, angry, confused and betrayed by the very sport that I loved and poured myself into just to see how good I was,” Houlihan said. “I want to be very clear: I’ve never taken any performance-enhancing substances and that includes the one of which I have been accused.”
Houlihan appealed the initial ruling by the Athletics Integrity Unit, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport told her Friday it did not accept her explanation.
“I do this sport because I love it, I have so much fun doing it and it’s always the best part of my day,” she said. “This sport means everything to me. I believe doping and cheating is weak. … I would never disrespect the sport, my competitors, my teammates, my coaches, my family and my fans this way. I love the sport too much.
“I’ve always wanted to stand at the top of an Olympic podium with a gold medal around my neck, knowing I did that, and now I am not sure that will ever happen.”
